Sep
07
Childhood obesity in the U.S. is a large issue. About 17 percent of all
children under the age of 19 would be regarded as medically overweight.
One publication, recently listed on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble
attempts to tackle this epidemic carefully, with nutritional guidance.
This book, however, could possibly be doing a lot of damage. Child
specialists and nutrition experts are saying that this publication
doesn't approach kid's weight issues in a secure and rational way.
Article source:
Maggie Goes On A Diet raises questions of childhood obesity
The girl in the publication becomes popular by getting skinny
Recently listed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites for sale later
this year, "Maggie Goes on a Diet" is a publication about a 14-year-old
girl who starts out overweight and unpopular. Through eating right and
exercising, Maggie loses weight, becomes a soccer star and ends up being
popular. The publication is for a certain audience. All kids 4 to 12
are encouraged to read it. In the book, it is all rhyme. It is something
for children and parents to sit down together to read.
Publication causes controversy
The Hawaii-based author Paul Kramer stated:
"My intentions were just to write a story to entice and to
have children feel better about themselves, discover a new way of
eating, learn to do exercise, make an effort to emulate Maggie and learn
from Maggie's experience."
Children's health experts, however, are strongly questioning "Maggie
Goes on a Diet." In general, nutritionists and pediatricians recommend
that kids eat balanced meals and exercise regularly but do not take on a
calorie-counting or appearance-based diet. Growth is often stunted by a
calorie cutting diet for a kid before puberty. Before age 13, children
should not be restricting calories since it can lead to an adult who is
overweight more often than a child who didn’t count calories.
Concerns about eating disorders
”Maggie Goes on a Diet” is about exercising and eating right. Still,
many have worried that eating disorders might be created with it.
Because the main character of “Maggie Goes on a Diet” doesn’t like her
body, she begins to make changes. The book is targeted toward kids who
are the age where eating issues can often start to develop. In general,
about 4 out of every 100 women in the U.S. will develop an eating
disorder at some time in their lives. Anorexia, bulimia and binge eating
are severe medical disorders that can have long-lasting effects on an
individual's heath. If children make a connection between being skinny
and being popular, it might be disastrous. It might end in more eating
issues being developed.
Sometimes have to just grow up
Rather than doing things to lower weight specifically, nutritionists
think that children who are overweight should be given healthier habits
to grow into a weight. Make sure rather than counting calories that
children are getting whole grains, vegetables and low-fat milk. It could
be very hard on kids with school lunch programs. This is because school
lunches often consist of fries and pizza, which have lots of fat and
calories in them.
Articles cited
WebMD http://children.webmd.com/features/eating-disorders-children-teens?page=2
US Department of Health and Human Services http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/
LA Times http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/23/news/la-heb-maggie-goes-on-a-diet-book-20110823
ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/Health/maggie-diet-author-paul-kramer-defends-teen-dieting/story?id=14362132&page=2
CDC http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2011-01-12-schoollunch13_ST_N.htm